


Embracing the Inevitable

by heatherelf



Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Pillow Talk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:21:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29278392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heatherelf/pseuds/heatherelf
Summary: From the moment Hailey opened her eyes this morning, she knew something was off with Jay. They often joked about taking the day off, but today there was an urgency in his tone that had her laughing awkwardly and tripping over him into the shower with a confused expression on her face and an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She just had no idea why.
Relationships: Jay Halstead & Hailey Upton, Jay Halstead/Hailey Upton
Comments: 6
Kudos: 85





	Embracing the Inevitable

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks go out to Rhiannon (@OneChicago_Rhi on Twitter) for the original prompt! I never know when inspiration is gonna strike me now that I'm actually doing this writing thing, but her idea was way too good to pass up. Thanks as well to Jade (@dickyymadden) for letting me steal the idea. This has been so much fun to write!

From the moment Hailey opened her eyes this morning, she knew something was off with Jay. They often joked about taking the day off, but today there was an urgency in his tone that had her laughing awkwardly and tripping over him into the shower with a confused expression on her face and an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She just had no idea why.

As she lathered and scrubbed, her mind went back and forth from reassuring herself one minute that nothing was wrong, to wondering what in the heck was up with him the next. She didn’t have much time to dwell, however, because Jay had already kept her in bed so long with his borderline overzealous tickling and snuggling that they were on the verge of being late for work. _Good thing he already took a shower the night before, or he might be in here with me trying to delay us even further_ , she thought, grinning in spite of herself.

On the way in (with Jay driving a lot slower than Hailey would’ve preferred, given how close they were already cutting it), Hailey’s thoughts were consumed with the case they’d caught last night, Jay’s odd behavior all but forgotten as she cycled through what little they already knew. At this stage they didn’t yet have any solid leads, but she was expecting there to be hours of cam footage ready and waiting for her and Jay to sift through in the hopes of piecing together their victim’s final moments.

Even with her mind focused on the day ahead, it was impossible to miss the incessant bounce in Jay’s left leg, but Hailey chalked that up to the result of Jay being as eager to get to work and move forward with the murder investigation as she was. (If she’d looked a little harder, she might’ve noticed his shifty appearance or the way his fingers were white-knuckling the steering wheel.)

As soon as they parked, only minutes before the start of shift, Hailey practically leapt from the truck and strode toward the precinct’s steps at a brisk clip. As she began to cross the pavement just outside the building, however, her left hand was suddenly gripped, and she was abruptly being tugged backward. She stumbled as she was jerked around. “Jay, what the hell?” she started. Then, she looked up and into what appeared to be the expression of a caged animal in her partner’s eyes. He seemed terrified.

“Hailey,” Jay croaked. He cleared his throat. “Hailey, I can’t go in there. I can’t.”

“What? Jay, seriously, what the hell is going on? What do you mean you can’t go in there?” Her head whipped around to gauge their surroundings before she turned to him in a state of bewilderment. “We’re gonna be late,” she hissed.

Jay remained silent, staring straight ahead as though she hadn’t spoken. Out of patience with the morning full of delays and keenly aware that Jay was essentially holding her hand in the middle of the street where anyone could see them, Hailey shrugged out of his grip, grabbed him by his shirtsleeve, and yanked him forward until they were up against the outer wall of the building. They’d been dating for a couple months, but regardless of whatever was plaguing Jay, she wasn’t sure she was ready to broadcast that to the entire precinct.

“Jay, talk to me,” she hissed. “What’s got you all worked up?”

“The vaccine,” he whispered, seeming to lose focus for a moment. “Will’s coming in today to give us all our first round of COVID vaccines, and I don’t wa – I can’t…I can’t do it Hailey. Don’t make me go in there.”

He sounded almost like a scared little boy, and despite her frustration, Hailey’s heart began to crack.

“Ohh,” she breathed as her heart continued to sink to her toes. “Shit. I completely forgot that was today. God, I’m such an idiot, I should’ve known.” Jay shook his head at her words, but Hailey was mentally kicking herself. She’d seen the email last week, but with this case looming over their heads and how busy they’d been, it had totally slipped her mind. As members of law enforcement there wasn’t anything they could do to get out of this, nor did she really want to, honestly. She’d already been thanking her lucky stars that they hadn’t been exposed, but it always felt like it was just a matter of time. Still, she should’ve realized how this day would affect her partner. She could’ve been helping him mentally prepare for it somehow.

“Jay, look,” she started. “You know as well as I do that this is necessary.” When Jay started to shake his head again, Hailey grabbed his arm. “Hey. Look at me.” She waited until his eyes met hers. “I know you hate this, but I also know your first priority is to keep the people of this city safe. This is important, bud.” She looked around again before leaning into Jay’s rigid frame. “ _Hey._ You got this. I’m here, I’ll be right there with you. You’re gonna be fine.”

Jay sighed dramatically. He took a few deep breaths, relaxed his shoulders, and seemed to steady himself. “No, you’re right, you’re right. This is dumb. I’m being ridiculous.” He groaned loudly. “Ugh. Let’s just get in there and get it over with.”

“That’s the spirit.” Hailey held on to Jay’s arm a bit longer and fixed him with the soft smile she reserved only for him. Jay responded with the tiniest of grins. Still, she’d take it.

“C’mon,” he quipped. “We’re gonna be late.” As he spun on his heel and hurried inside, Hailey couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she fell quickly into step behind him.

As the day progressed, Hailey could see that Jay’s earlier resolve was beginning to falter. He’d been having an uncharacteristic amount of difficulty concentrating on their tedious assignment and hadn’t eaten all that much at lunchtime. By the time the afternoon rolled around and Will was expected to be there any minute, Jay was looking fairly pale and a little green around the gills. His freckles were standing out in sharp relief, and Hailey could see even from across their desks that there was a faint sheen of moisture beading on his forehead. Any other day she would’ve wrinkled her nose at the sweat stains forming under his arms, but she just smiled encouragingly when she caught his eye. He didn’t react much, and Hailey was starting to get a bit nervous about how this was all going to go down.

The rest of their team had migrated to their respective desks over the past half hour or so, trying to get some last-minute work in before the interruption. Hailey wanted to check in with her man, but she couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t draw the prying eyes of their squad mates. She stood up and was just about to motion for Jay to follow her into the break room when Platt trudged up the stairs. Will appeared close behind her with a bulging leather satchel slung over his shoulder. Hailey pursed her lips. _Well, here goes nothin’_ , she thought.

“All right, let’s make this quick,” the desk sergeant barked with her hands on her hips. “I got a whole lotta uniforms down there waiting their turn, but the good doctor here insisted on giving _you_ all the special treat of being first in line.”

Hailey noticed Will staring over her shoulder at Jay with a slight grimace on his face and knew exactly why he was starting with them. _At least he knows what he’s walking into_ , she thought. She felt Jay’s warmth at her back and turned to find him in close proximity, plopping down in his usual spot on the side of her desk that she kept clutter-free for that specific purpose. It was one of the only places in the bullpen where they could stick close without arousing suspicion, since the precedent for Jay’s butt being planted on her desk was set long before the thing between them had deepened into romance, back when they were still skirting around their feelings for each other. Hailey was especially glad right now that Jay was taking the opportunity to draw support from her presence. She lifted a hand to rub his arm and lean her head against his shoulder briefly while everyone else was distracted watching Will unpack all his paraphernalia.

Jay groaned softly when Will pulled out six labelled, pre-filled syringes, and Hailey reached behind her to squeeze his thigh in comfort. She heard Voight emerge from his office behind them, however, and quickly pulled her hand back. He strode right past them without a glance over to where Will was pulling out a box of alcohol wipes.

“Hey Doc,” he rasped with his thumb over his shoulder. “I need Upton and your brother here to head out on a lead as soon as you’re through, so let’s do them first.”

Jay started to cough, and Hailey saw all heads swivel in their direction. Adam eyed Jay with a smirk on his face and called out, “Hey Halstead, you alright? You look like you’re gonna puke, man. You gonna make it?” He looked to Kevin for affirmation.

To his credit, Kevin said nothing, but he huffed out an uncomfortable-sounding laugh as Hailey spat out, “Shut your trap, Adam.”

Adam’s eyes widened and he turned back to her with his hands raised in defense. “Woah, Hailey, chill. It was just a joke.”

“Yeah? Well, it wasn’t very funny.” She glared at him.

“Enough,” Voight belted out. “Halstead. Upton. Sleeves up. Now.”

As Voight barked out the final word, Hailey tore her eyes away from the jackass next to her and sprang into action. She angrily tugged one arm out of her sweater so she could lift the garment up and over her tank top to expose her upper arm. She was so done with this day, and frankly more than ready to head out on whatever lead Voight had secured for them. They just needed to push through this and get Jay out into the fresh air.

As Will walked over to them, he glanced at his brother again and with a gentler voice than Hailey was expecting, said, “Jay. Your shirt.”

“Oh. Yeah, right, okay.” Jay fumbled with his buttons yet steadily made his way through the task. As he worked to free his arm from his sleeve, Will stepped up to Hailey and put his gloved hand on her exposed forearm.

“You good?” Will smiled encouragingly.

“Yep, go for it,” Hailey replied with feigned nonchalance. She sat up nice and straight and plastered on a grin as Will wiped her arm down with an alcohol pad, determined to not let Jay see how his terror was beginning to get to her. At this point, even if she were about to be stuck with a hot poker she’d have put on a brave face if she thought it would help Jay even a little.

As it turned out, all she felt was a bit of a pinch, just like Will had warned her as he wiggled her arm and inserted the needle, and then a strange spreading sensation that lasted for only an instant before the whole thing was over and she was threading her arm back into her sleeve.

She pivoted around with an encouraging smile and was about to reassure Jay with, “See? That was easy,” but before she could get the words out, she took in the glassy appearance of his green eyes and the ghastly pallor of his cheeks. _Crap._

“Heyheyhey. Jay. _Jay._ ” She patted his cheek. Will was right there on his other side and looked to be bracing himself to catch his brother should he suddenly pitch forward, since it appeared he might do just that. Hailey walked around the desk to stand directly in front of him between his outstretched legs. She could hear the concerned murmuring of the others in the room but tuned them out in favor of focusing all her attention on the man in front of her.

Since Jay had at least managed to get out of his shirt, Will promptly rubbed his arm down and uncapped the needle. Jay let out a feeble whimper and leaned into Hailey who quickly did the only thing she could think of in that moment that she was certain would distract him. She grabbed his face with her palms, gripping his ears, and pulled him forward to kiss him soundly. Jay stiffened for just a moment and then Hailey felt him melt into her mouth. She let out a soft, muffled groan as the room disappeared. All she could feel was the insistent press of Jay’s lips against hers for several seconds before reality came rushing back and she pried herself away with an audible pop.

She took in Jay’s dazed appearance and leaned her forehead briefly against his chest. Her face twisted into a sheepish grimace as she turned slowly to gauge the room. Adam and Kevin sat frozen in their seats with wide eyes. Kim appeared to have been in the middle of taking a sip from her Styrofoam cup when the kiss had gone down and was currently alternating between gaping at Hailey and trying to stop the dribble of soda that was running down the side of the cup. Platt had a smug grin on her face, and Voight, well, Voight she couldn’t read, but what else was new?

She heard Will chuckle behind her and whipped her head around to catch him shaking his head. “You mean you all work in Intelligence, and yet this,” he gestured between Hailey and Jay, who was awkwardly stuffing his arm back into his shirt sleeve, “is coming as a surprise to you?” As he laughed, the room sprang back into motion.

Sounding fairly exasperated, Voight called out to no one in particular, “Finish up and get back to work!” as he sauntered back toward his office. Making his way over to Hailey and Jay, he stopped and lowered his voice and said, “Jay, go splash some water on your face and pull yourself together, and then I want to see you both in my office.” Hailey plopped down into her seat and put her head in her hands. Adam reached out to lightly punch her leg, but no one said another word. She was sure they were all giving each other plenty of looks, however.

As soon as Jay emerged from the break room with some color back in his cheeks, maybe a tad _too_ much color now, Hailey met him outside Voight’s space and followed him into the small room. As they entered, Voight was rolling his sleeve back down and Will was stuffing a filled medical waste bag into his satchel. The detectives shifted to the side to give Will room to exit. As he walked out, Will clapped his brother on the shoulder in commiseration.

Hailey shut the door behind him and turned back to see Voight glancing at his computer. “Patrol spotted the vehicle we identified as belonging to the victim’s mother outside a residence off 44th and Fairfield in Brighton Park. I need you to go talk her – find out what she knows, if anything.”

Hailey’s eyes darted to Jay, who was apparently struck dumb. She gave him a pointed look that he correctly interpreted as, _You do it_. He cleared his throat. “Uh, Sarge?” Hailey tried to gauge Voight’s expression as Jay spoke. “Um, are you –.”

“What?” Voight interrupted. “You think I didn’t know what was going on between the two of you?” His voice softened a little. “I’ve seen this coming for years. If I thought this was gonna get in the way of the job, I would’ve split you up a long time ago.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and paused before saying, “But you better not prove me wrong. Look, we got a murder to solve. Get out of here and go run down the lead and just…get your paperwork filled out by the end of the week, ok?”

The couple stood in shocked silence for a moment before Jay gathered his wits about him. “Sure Sarge, we’re on it.”

Hailey mumbled a sheepish “Thanks,” as they walked out. They grabbed their jackets and made their way through the bullpen and down the stairs before they had to suffer any further embarrassment.

As they tried to make their escape, Platt called out, “Hey, Chuckles!” The pair winced and grudgingly swiveled around to walk back to the counter. Hailey hung back slightly, but not far enough to miss Platt’s next words as she leaned over to Jay and said lowly, “I think you owe your woman some kind of reward. If she hadn’t saved your ass with that kiss, we’d have been scraping it up off the floor.”

Hailey closed her eyes in exasperation as Jay sarcastically replied, “Yeah, Sarge, I’m aware. Anything else?”

“Nah, get out of here you two, I’m happy for you.” Platt grinned.

The detectives glanced at each other as they sighed and shook their heads before hurrying down the steps and out into the blessed fresh air.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I wasn't intending for this to be more than a one-shot, but as I began to write the second half of this piece, it quickly started getting away from me. This will definitely end up being the longest piece I've written so far (which admittedly isn't saying much), as well as the most dialogue-heavy. I hope everyone's voices ring true so far, since that's always a bit of a pet peeve of mine. Anyway. I figured I'd get this part out now in order to give myself a little more time to work out the rest. I think you're really going to like the second half, if I do say so myself! Stay tuned!


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